One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Christ Figure Analysis

1. Randle Patrick McMurphy charges into the Mental Hospital and challenges Nurse Ratched also known as the “Big Nurse” in attempts to topple what she has established. In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” emptiness, placement, and apathy loom in the beginning of the novel, however once Randle Patrick McMurphy arrives the order of combines takes a drastic turn… for the good! McMurphy is a complex character because he can be seen either as a negative influence or as a positive influence because of his actions in the story. However, McMurphy a positive influence because of his actions within the novel.

In different stories people may be represented as a figure of Christ. They may do things similar to what Jesus or God would do constantly. In the book, Lord of the Flies, there is a person who is represented as a Christ-figure. The person who fills this role is Simon. Simon is represented in Lord of the Flies as a Christ-figure because his death is similar to Jesus’ and communion, has imagery of being sent to heaven, and he is kind to everyone.

Although Big Nurse turns McMurphy to a vegetable at the end of Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey’s portrayal of McMurphy as a God-like symbol in the lives of the men on the ward helps criticize the diagnosing of “crazy” people in the mid 1900s. Specifically, Big Nurse subjects McMurphy and Chief Bromden to shock therapy after a fight with the black men who were cleansing the men. As they enter the chamber, McMurphy stops Bromden: “Take ‘er easy. I’ll go first” (237). McMurphy then “Climbs on the table” and “spreads his arms out to fit the shadow” (237).

“Only at the last—after he'd smashed through that glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her…doctors and supervisors and nurses prying those heavy red fingers out of the white flesh of her throat as if they were her neck bones.” This was McMurphy’s final outburst of anger at the nurse and at oppression, but just as in the bible oppression won at first, “And one morning, after McMurphy'd been gone three weeks, she made her last play. The ward door opened, and the black boys wheeled in this Gurney with a chart at the bottom that said in heavy black letters, MCMURPHY, RANDLE P. POST-OPERATIVE. And below this was written in ink, LOBOTOMY.” McMurphy was lobotomized, just as Jesus was

Interestingly, McMurphy loosely follows the path of Jesus Christ, where he begins a journey of unselfishness to help free his fellow ward members from the strong grips of the combine. With his fusion of an almost thuggish hero and a liberator, McMurphy cements himself as an archetype that was common in the psychological field from that time. In conjunction with the thoughts of many theorists, like Freud, McMurphy becomes a character that serves almost as role model for many young people. In the case of the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy’s fellow ward-mates are the figurative representation of the children McMurphy would appeal to. In the end, it is McMurphy’s rebelliousness and inevitable sacrifice that help portray him as a classical hero, while also allowing him to free society from the constraints of oppression.

Though every period of time, people often find themselves looking for a savior. While most people turn for Jesus Christ or other religious figures, in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, the patients of a strictly-run psychiatric ward turn to Randal Patrick McMurphy. Kesey uses McMurphy to create a Christ Figure, or a character that shows allusions to Christ, in his work. Despite being a patient, McMurphy finds a way to stand out as a Christ Figure through having his individual thoughts and actions, rather than shrinking himself to what the ward wants him to be.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes place at a mental hospital in Oregon state hospital in in Salem. This book follows the day to day life of a group of patients of how the go from acting like machines to becoming their own person. The author uses machinery to show that everyone is the same and has to be a perfect robot. When they are able to fit in and just go with the crowd, they are not humans. As the book moves on with McMurphy, the machinery quotes goes down and it shows how people are being there own person. "The ward is a factory for the combine. It's for fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhood in the schools and in the churches, the hospital is. "(Kesey 40).

Throughout the book One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, there are many similarities between McMurphy and the story of Jesus. This paints McMurphy as a savior to the ward just like Jesus was a savior to the world. Many occur throughout the story are symbols of events that happened in the story of Christ. Things such as the fishing trip, electroshock therapy, and the fact that he helped the patients reach their full potential all correlate with the life of Jesus Christ.

The Christ figure is a recurring symbol in American literature. Throughout Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, various interactions and events portray McMurphy as a Christ figure. There are frequent visual and concrete references to Christ throughout the novel. Also, the reader discovers that the other patients view McMurphy as an inspiration and someone they wish to emulate. This cooperation enables him to oppose Nurse Ratched and do what he thinks is best for the patients.

When McMurphy shows his provocative and sexual playing cards to the men of the ward, he begins to unmask the importance of sexual expression, allegorical to the word of God or new religion proposed by Jesus. McMurphy also attempts to reveal the damaging effects of Nurse Ratched's mental ward, parallel to Jesus' attempts to bring humanity, "out of the darkness," and, "into the light of the Lord," where one can be eternally saved from original sin. In the first scene, we also meet Ellis, a man who has received numerous treatments at the facility and has become completely docile and, "Now he's nailed against the wall" (20). This image can be associated with the Book of Matthew because it foreshadows the inevitable Christ-like sacrifice that McMurphy makes at the end of the novel. Ellis also acts as the crucified criminals that share in Christ's pain beside him on the cross (Matthew 27). The image of Ellis communicates to the reader the impact and importance of McMurphy as a character of the salvation that he brings to the patients on the ward as the novel continues.

Further allusion to Christ's life comes when McMurphy and the Chief are disturbed following the incident in the shower room protecting George from the violence of the aides. This trial and punishment mirrors that of Christ's. A patient on the ward is heard to say ` I wash my hands' repeatedly, the words of Pontious Pilate. As McMurphy is given EST his head is `anointed' with conductant before he is given a `Crown of Thorns'.

When norms of society are unfair and seem set in stone, rebellion is bound to occur, ultimately bringing about change in the community. Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest demonstrates the conflict of individuals who have to survive in an environment where they are pressured to cooperate. The hospital's atmosphere suppresses the patients' individuality through authority figures that mold the patients into their visions of perfection. The ward staff's ability to overpower the patients' free will is not questioned until a man named Randal McMurphy is committed to the mental institute. He rebels against what he perceives as a rigid, dehumanizing, and uncompassionate

In the asylums during the 50’s, patients were allowed to smoke, were admitted for petty issues such as jealousy, or laziness and were also treated with harsh consequences like electroshock therapy or lobotomies. I would recommend this book because it gives a special message, that we can change the structure of society – if we possess enough determination, courage, and perseverance. McMurphy showed his courage and determination by not giving up when trying to make the other patients happy, while still trying to get into Nurse Ratched’s head. Throughout the story, I have noticed that McMurphy could be looked at as a God, because he “cured” the patients by providing them with hope and happiness. McMurphy’s death could be referred to as Jesus dying for people’s sins. Overall, I believe this was a very good book and would be in my top five favorites. The message that “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” brings, and the close relationships all the characters have really pull the book together and present a bittersweet

society, as well as sanity vs. insanity are greatly expressed through the characters actions and events in the novel, as seen from a patients eyes. Randle McMurphy, the main character of the novel portrays the theme of the individual against society through his dealings with Nurse Ratched and the hospital. “The main action of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest consists of McMurphy's struggles against Nurse Ratched. Her ward at the hospital is a society in itself. McMurphy challenges the rules from the beginning” (Malin 224). The effects of the battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is expressed in the reactions of both characters, as well as the changes brought to the ward. “But she stops. She was flustered for a second there. Some of the acutes hide grins, and McMurphy takes a huge stretch, yawns, winks at Harding” (Keasey 45). The individual vs. society theme is clearly displayed here though McMurphy's struggle against the rules of the asylum, and against the rule of Nurse Ratched. This represents a a man, or individual, fighting for his own rights when faced with the views and obstacles forced upon him by a tyrannical society with strict guidelines. The second major theme in this novel, tied to the individual vs. society, is the theme of insanity vs. sanity. “Sanity vs. insanity is a topic that is established by society itself, set by public values and rules on what normalcy should be and what insane should be qualified

The novel, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey illustrates society on a small scale. The story, narrated by Chief, a patient, starts in a mental ward that is run by Big Nurse Ratched. The policy is the law and no one can change it, only abide by it. The patients are being oppressed by Nurse Ratched, though they don’t realize it until McMurphy shows up. The patients do as Nurse Ratched says because they fear her wrath. Throughout the novel, the character Randle Patrick McMurphy represents the rebellious people in the oppressive society. As the story progresses, McMurphy commits many rebellious acts. He brings the patients together and they fight against the society, which is represented by